Original plans called for the $27 million high school to open during the 2014-15 school year — in August optimistically — but the new Bethlehem school now won’t open until the 2015-16 school year, Executive Director Diane LaBelle said.

This year’s snowy winter was the project’s first setback and then officials decided to redesign the school’s foundation after the soil’s bearing capacity came into question, LaBelle said. The new school is being built at East Third and Polk streets in South Bethlehem next to Looper’s Grille & Bar.

“We think everything would have been fine but we didn’t want to take a chance on anything,” LaBelle said of the foundation redesign.

The new school will be made of precast concrete, which is especially heavy but will provide better soundproofing for the multitude of performance spaces, LaBelle said. The foundation redesign fell within the project’s budgeted contingency fund, she said.

When it started to become obvious that the new school couldn’t open by August 2014, school officials started looking at August 2015 as their goal, a date that the new school should comfortably meet, LaBelle said. The new school may even be done in time to host some end-of-the-year performances next spring, she said.

“Ultimately, the board and the administration decided it wouldn’t be good to move in the middle of the year anyway so we’re fine,” she said. “Everybody’s excited about moving to South Bethlehem and being with all the arts and cultural organizations.”

The school currently leases space in the 600 block of East Broad Street and that lease runs out in August 2015, LaBelle said. The school has a sizeable waiting list and the new building will allow the school to add 200 students to its 450-student enrollment. The 87,000-square-foot building is said to have state-of-the-art arts facilities, including a 350-seat theater, four dance studios and a rooftop performance venue.

“We have a lot of people waiting to get in, so we really want to be in there next year,” school Board of Directors President Mario Acerra said. “The important thing is to move in for August 2015.”